Saturday, August 29, 2015

Eminem Helped my Speech Delayed Son

Yes, you read that right. Eminem.

Before I go any further: **DISCLAIMER** This post is in no way endorsing that Eminem will help your child speak better. I am merely relating OUR experience.

I digress. So, my son is on the Autism spectrum. He actually spoke early, but was super hard to understand. We were translators for years, and sometimes still are. I was told when he was 5 that even though he spoke, it was still considered a speech delay.

Let me take a minute and say THANK YOU to the two women who have been my son's SLP's. He's been in speech therapy since he was 5. People can finally understand what he's trying to say, and he's doing much better with context. However, he sometimes stutters, and still has issues with some words. This is where we feel Eminem has helped.

I love music. We have always exposed him to all forms. (Hearing your 2 year old sing Jailhouse Rock, is adorable. Even if it was hard to understand what he said.) When he turned 7 he decided that his favorite was Eminem. He LOVED to listen to him rap. I downloaded all the CLEAN versions I could find and filled his tablet.

Liam would listen to the same song, repeatedly, all day. If it came on in the car he would screech until everyone was quiet so he "could rap." Little by little, he was getting it. If you're a fan of Eminem, you know how fast that man can speak. He also speaks very clearly so you can tell what he's actually saying. This was great for my son.

While Liam can't keep up with all his songs, there have been a select few he has nailed. Of course, they are his faves, and I really couldn't count how many times he has listened to them. Practiced them, rehearsed them.

We were headed to Vestal today and he asked for "his" Eminem. I obliged. It wasn't long before Pita and I were tuning out Eminem, so we could hear our son singing. He nailed it. EVERY word. (Except for the curse words since they're spun out. ;) )

To hear a boy who was once so hard to understand, speak so clearly, so fluently, and with such confidence, well, it warmed my heart. Warmed Pita's too. I commented quietly on how much Eminem's music has helped him, and he agreed.

15 years ago, while listening to "Slim Shady," I never thought that my future son would be such a huge fan. I also never thought that Eminem would be helping my son to speak better. Funny how life works.

Therapies come in all forms. In so many ways. Something that may seem like a kid, just listening to music, could be a child learning to speak better.

1 comment:

As an SLP, I love the creative motivation for your son's incredible speech efforts. Judging by his rapping clarity, your son has made remarkable gains with his speech progress. Kudos to your hard work, persistence and encouragement! ~Keri